Long before the RSPB came along, Rainham Marshes used to be the only site within the London area where you could stand a good chance of seeing Hen Harrier at their regular winter roost. This happened up until the early 1990’s when the species started to become decidedly rare around here and nowadays it is a very scarce passage migrant usually in the early autumn and spring...
(Jack Hawkins)
So why the steep decline? Quite simply there has been a catastrophic crash in the English breeding population with habitat in northern upland areas that could (and did hold) up to 320 breeding pairs now holding fewer than six birds.
(Les Harrison)
Continued illegal persecution on driven grouse moors is the reason. Upland land management is now so intensive that grouse can barely be considered wild birds The habitat is hugely manipulated to support excessive numbers, predators are controlled – both legally and illegally – and medicated grit is put out to improve the health of grouse. This system of ‘hunting’ and the land management that goes with it is the most intensive of any in the world – yet it is completely unregulated.
Support is now building to aid a recovery and M&S have recently recognised this, and the illegal persecution that goes hand in hand with grouse shooting, and have decided not to sell grouse in their stores. Their decision to suspend sales until a workable code of practice is in place is very significant and one we wholeheartedly welcome.
So, hopefully we may have turned a corner and with the support of you and other parties such as M&S we can expand this growing and extremely welcome chorus to see the return of Hen Harriers to the rightful place as a breeding bird of our hills. The shockwaves of the last year's failure to see any Hen Harrier nest successfully in England have, at long last, built a momentum for change.
Since we have had more eyes on the skies RSPB Rainham Marshes has become a notable location for local autumn raptor migration and we usually see one or two Hen Harriers each season but wouldn’t it be great to be able to once again talk about wintering harriers and the spectacle of watching them hunting the silt lagoons and restored ancient marshland....
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Howard Vaughan, Information Officer